Emergence
by Comixology
Summary: They never wanted to be heroes; but greatness is sometimes thrown at those who are great. When several strangers are brought together to stop the world from falling into the clutches of the mysterious OSIRIS organization, they find themselves working along side the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D alike to stop the impending doom, only to find out things on their side isn't what it seems.


_00\. It Begins_

_'Mysteries are the lesser imperfections;_

 _that we find beauty in not knowing.'_

* * *

There's nothing in this tiny room but her own heart beat and breath. At times Katherine had hit the iron bars with the docile ring on her finger, just to hear something different, to make a tune. Then the futility of it all hits her hard. She could imagine music all she wanted, recollect sunny days and picture wide open spaces, but these walls aren't crumbling any century soon. The only time she had gotten to leave is to the interrogation room and even then she barely remembered the faces, because of the heavy doses of truth serum they would administer her. The guards wear black hoods and the questions are delivered by a disembodied and distorted voice. Katherine used to think that if she ended up in one of these places, she would be stoic, that her hair would drape the floor before uttering a syllable. Apparently, the girl was not that brave. She could either talk, converse, use her mind - or loose it. Some nights one part of her brain gets talking to another, whispering if she were lucky, yelling if she's not.

Today would be one of the days Katherine was taken to be interrogated. It had been weeks, months maybe, since the girl stepped foot into the world outside. She could hear a clock ticking by. It rings out, it's echoes penetrating the stillness of the air. Twelve o'clock. Looking around all she sees is an indefinite expansion of pure white space. You could run forever and never get anywhere, never make progress. No light. No shadows. Just the colors of empty white. Though there appears to be nothing but open space around, she gets the feeling of suffocation, like her lungs are caving in.

She can hear the heaviness hit the floor soundly, softly, but soundly. There's something about the sound that gives her a rush of nostalgia, and the smile that formed on her face cracked through her abrupt weariness and drugged state. The door opens with an old groan, and her almond eyes watch intently who it could today. Was it Natasha? Clint? Mason, even? Maybe someone new altogether. His back was facing her with drupe shoulders and golden strains peeping down over the collar—Steve. Katherine shifted in the metal seat almost instinctively. She had been expected to spill her gullet of lies and secrets that she kept, yet there was nothing to offer except an empty glass.

He waited for sometime before turning around to face her with an impassive expression and his lips held together tightly as he sat opposite of the swaying girl. Steve was just as much as bewildered as she had been when Fury refused to abide her decision to leave the compound, and instead lock her up without consolation. He wondered with a dip in his brow why they were keeping her; they knew she had nothing more to tell, that she should walk free—that she should be free. Oh, but they continued to push buttons, to probe and pry at a mind that knew less than what they wanted it to. Steve came to the conclusion that Katherine Stark was collateral damage, basically. There wasn't a need to keep her as a prisoner, it just felt right in their eyes to hold someone who was incapable of defending themselves, accountable.

Roughly, Steve cleared his throat to lead her wandering eyes back to him. "How are you feeling, Katherine?"

"I thought I could build up an immunity for this stuff, but I guess I was wrong." She answered quickly, a brief flicker in her eyes told the soldier otherwise, however. "I could use some coffee."

The corners of his lips twitched slightly. "I'll get someone to bring you a cup." 

"That would be nicest thing I've had in a long time." Katherine pauses, folding her hands on the table and leaning forward to mimic Steve's current position. There was glint in her eyes, but her expression remained far off, dream-like even. Another thing he caught on to.

"I need you to tell me everything you can remembered about what happened up to this point. If you're capable." 

Katherine let's a low-whistle come from her lips and she gleams with a soft grin. "You're going to have to specify on that, Captain."

Steve looks over to the blacked out window that guts into the white walls. He draws in a sharp breath before letting a low chuckle erupt from his throat. Katherine frowned, but doesn't question him. He ran a hand through his hair and shifts in his seat, leaning back from the girl with an icy stare. Katherine admitted, it was a bit uncomfortable, but he always sympathized and understood her.

"Over the course of the past months, you were involved with a team of individuals to take down a terrorist organization by the name of OSIRIS. The Avengers participated in the infiltration and destroyed most of their technology, but an event occurred that caused the team you were working with to get severely injured." Katherine didn't cut him off as she listened, replaying the events of that day in her mind over and over, wondering if she could have realized it then would He have gotten away.

Would she be here right now.

"Three are currently undergoing treatment for heavy administrations of poison and one other is attempting to learn to walk again. You got a sustainable injury yourself."

Katherine winced inwardly as her fingers ran over the thick scar across her stomach. "It's a mistake I pay for everyday, because I'm here. I told you everything I could remember about what happened that day. I don't know where he went; I don't want to know."

"It's okay." Steve saw the look of trepidation that sweep across her features. She held at her arms and shivered—he didn't want to make her uncomfortable, he just wanted to get the answers he needed so she could leave and the Avengers could handle the situation from there.

"'Just start from the beginning."

"Of what?"

Steve gave her a smile. "Everything up to this point."

"Well, to start off: I have bad judgment of people and a horrible taste in men." She shrugged, letting thoughts lead her mind a stray. She felt her lips part and a voice speak, but the words had long faded from her wandering ears. Katherine was spiraling backwards in flashes and time rushed over her with a flood of memories.

 _ **Seven Weeks Earlier...**_

 _SUNY Empire State University, New York  
Manhattan, New York_

"You're kidding me right now." There was a scoff and Katherine sneered in her sleep.

A knee knocking against her legs jolted Katherine awake from her dream. After a few petrified moments of collateral note taking, she'd elected to take a small nap, opposite of the others fielding around in the library. There wasn't much else to do—she didn't even know why she'd decided to take notes here to begin with, or at all for that matter. She supposed it would give her the feeling of normality; something she wasn't use to. Students were laughing quietly as they commandeered to their phones or stuff their noses tightly into the books as hands and pencils moved vigorously. In fact, there wasn't anything much to do in this library, and she refused to do anything phone-related. Well, other than wince every time she made any slight movements that applied pressure onto her broken hip. Small price to pay for the helpless to sleep well at night.

Meekly, she looked around, realizing that someone had sat down next to her. The person, a boy, was dressed discreetly, baggy jeans hiding his legs and a sweatshirt with the hood drawn over his head. His face was a frown and his upper lip pulled upward as Katherine examined him. Katherine scowled angrily, and once more went to close her eyelids for a somber rest. That, however, wasn't the case as another bump peeled her eyes into an agitated slant. The boy was quite handsome, aside from the minimal bruising on his cheeks and lips.

"What do you want?"

He cleared his throat and slid in a little closer. It was technique designed to keep the conversation low and only between them. "Something's come up."

Katherine's dark eyes squinted and she gave a silent nod for him to continue. He blinked and his gaze darted away briefly.

"Spidey senses catch something, Miles?"

The African American boy shook his head, turning back to face her. "No, I just thought—never mind that. Listen, I know we just got back from a mission, but that's not reason to cut off your communicator."

"Its a perfectly reasonable excuse, actually." Katherine cooed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Is that why you're here?"

Miles shook his head, again, looking around quickly. "I think we're being followed."

"When aren't we?" Katherine had gathered her books as she asked this with a cocky scoff, sitting up straighter and preparing to rise. Miles pulled back on her elbow, forcing her to stay put. She winced slightly, noting that this entire side of her body had more bruises and broken bones that she had previously figured.

"I'm being serious. Something wasn't right with the last mission Phil had us do, and its been bugging me. I mean, all those...animals...and that place. It just seems-"

"Surreal."

"I know you're probably going to tell me you didn't. That there was nothing on the computers there—but I have to ask, still: was there?" Miles murmured, keeping his voice even.

Katherine shrugged. "If there was, it got blown away in the blast. It's probably at the bottom of the Atlantic by now."

Miles's bright eyes focused intently on Katherine. "You're lying. You flare your nostrils when you're lying."

"No I—fine. I did find something on one of the computers, but I haven't had a chance to look at it yet. Why do you want to know?"

"I just have a bad feeling about things, Kat. A real bad feeling."

From the convulsing crowd of bodies, came the sound of heavy limbs being dragged across the wooden floor. Whatever it was, it was massive. Miles was already tearing off the sweatshirt and baggy pants, donning his infamous red and black mask—it was the very reinterpretation of the iconic Spider-Man costume that made him stand out. People had tossed their books and papers into the air in a frenzy and began running towards the exits. Katherine only stood in curiosity, her hand hovering instinctively over the shimmering black and gold "watch" on her wrist. Ms. Jenkins, the librarian was the last to exit in her pudgy posterior, breathing heavily as she wobbled away.

There, in the middle of room, she could clearly see it. It stood towering with a hunched back, its skin leathery and reflecting the light in rainbow colors. Katherine noted the ridges poking out from its spine, and shot Miles a warning look as he approached the creature. Its tail moved back and forth in a slimy heap of scales.

"Which one of you is Katherine Stark?" The voice was hoarse and sounded rough, almost serpent like as it drew out the S's. Both parties gave a glance and swallowed hard.

"Who wants to know?" Miles piped cautiously, and the reptilian creature glanced over it's shoulder and made what Katherine could only assume was a smile with its jagged, pointy teeth.

Katherine narrowed her eyes in a glare. "He asked you a question, I suggest you answer."

"You superheroes annoy me. Prancing around and acting like your gods. What about us? What about the people who aren't like you?" He was flicking his forked tongue and hissing dangerously . The two taste the venomous flavor of his sentence as he spoke each word, and realized that the beast standing colossal in size was a simple civilian.

Miles cleared his throat, stepping forward slowly as golden eyes followed his movements. "Whatever grudge you have against us, please believe me that we don't intend for you guys to be mad. We're just trying to make a difference."

"Look at me!" It hulking body lurched forward and he slammed a powerful fist down, snapping one of the oak tables like a tooth pick.

"Oh, I'm looking." Katherine jived, sneering upward. She was always making sarcastic comments towards enemies to get their blood boiling, flashing that undeniable smirk of malevolence that struck so many with familiarity. The creature turned its gaze towards her with a low growl, gleaming over in its steep of anger and agitation. He wondered why he had been torn away from the streets of Brooklyn that night instead of anyone else.

"What happened to you, anyway? If we had something to do with that, I apologize."

Miles muttered under his breath and shook his head. "Let me do the talking, why don't you?"

"I'm just saying," Clunks of metal rolled over her carefully in spurts of silver, black and gold. "If we didn't do anything to him, we can offer him help—unless, you know, he's here to kill me."

There was a loud cackling that sounded in the room like paper being stepped on. Two eyes, blue and brow, looked between each other and up at their potential assailant. "I'll do more than kill you! I'm going to cut off that pretty head of yours and take it back to my bosses!"

 _'Then I can go home, back to my mom and dad. I could see my little brother again.'_ Were the words he left tethered to his thoughts as charged for with sharp talons and a vibrating roar. It was long, however, through all the web-slinging and bookshelves being thrown at him wit the occasional blue repulsion, that his knee gave out and he fell to the ground in a breathless heap. The two watched him with caution, one hovering in the air like some pristine artwork of steel and the other in a brilliant array of crimson and obsidian.

"Alright, who sent you?" Katherine's voiced was calm and collective, her face creasing behind the helmet. There a fury in the boy's eyes—the conclusion she'd come to during the first part of his empty threats. He wasn't going to budge, just like the others.

Miles sighed. "Dude, just tell us who sent you. We've seen people like you before. That form you've got going for yourself? It's not permanent. You're going to revert back to your normal self, and as soon as you do, they're going to activate that little tracking device they put in you and you're going to die."

"You don't know anything!" He spat back, feeling himself rowing weaker by the minute. His muscles felt like molasses as sweat perspired of his skin furiously—his felt his throat go dry, his mouth chapping. Somewhere deep inside, he knew what those people told him was a lie, but he had to hang on to that hope, to his promise.

"How did you get this way?" Katherine watched his face contorted as much as it could in its current state at the sudden question. He was confused that someone other than his family cared; then it struck him, the shrinking of his limbs, the searing heat.

"I was...was walking home from the library. Studying for finals-" He cried out in pain, but continued his explanation ."You know, typical college freshmen stuff, and these guys started following me. Said that they could give me something that I always wanted."

Miles raised a brow, narrowing his eyes. "And that was?"

"To be like you guys. I said yes, obviously and they knocked me out. When I woke up, I was told to come here and lay low for awhile until you came. They told me to bring you back alive, but if you didn't come willingly, just kill you and bring the suit instead." Katherine let the face of her helmet come up, she frowned, but didn't say her thoughts out loud. In fact, she was too busy gawking at the bare boy crouched on the floor before her and Miles.

She pressed her lips together finely, sharing a glance with Miles. "What's your name?"

"My name is Josh. Joshua Walters. Why does it matter, anyway?"

"Can you describe one of the men who kidnapped you?"

Josh's breathing was getting sloppier and heavier, and he knew by the pain in his neck that he wouldn't have long left anyway, so he told them everything he could remember. He told them about the scarred man and his white eye, the compound he was taken to and any conversations that he overheard that would benefit them. He cracked a smile when it happened, when the feverish pain smacked him in the chest like a tire iron. Somehow, he always knew that he wouldn't get to see the rest of his life. And he was fine with that.

Katherine drew in a deep, long breath, gawking at the crumpled body before her. This was what she had to deal with for the past month; chasing ghosts and following cold leads. It was exhausting, tiresome and stirred emotions she'd long repressed. It was always the same thing: random people being abducted and spotted nearly five months after they went missing. She and Miles had been assigned to track them down and find out any information they could. Maybe it was tied to what happened in Madagascar. Maybe it wasn't. She didn't know, but there were things she knew were being kept from her. Miles. Everyone.

The sound of sirens cut her from her thoughts, and she looked up. "You got this handled, right?"

"Yeah. Where are you going?"

"To the Triskelion. I need answers, and Fury is the only one who can give them to me. Even if that means," Katherine tossed her hands up and let them fall to her sides. "Giving him what I found in Madagascar."

Miles only stared at her from behind his mask, and even thought she couldn't see his expression, she knew he was frowning. Probably thinking how much of a risk it would be to turn the drive over after keeping it for three months, knowing it was a bad idea; Katherine didn't care. She slipped out the back entrance and headed North into the sky.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** I'll admit, I'm a bit terrified of my writing technique and how I'll interpret these characters, so I decided to hone my skills a bit over the breaks. I'm trying different styles, but the whole fear I'm having is strewing up my favorite characters! This is one of those stories that I can't stop thinking about unless I write it out and I just get more ideas and more ways to introduce things, its crazy. So, here, is the edited prologue to the story. I hope you guys __enjoy long chapters_

Next Chapter: **Remembrance**


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